Four inmates flee prison
Four inmates flee prison
BANDUNG: Four prisoners jailed for drug-related crimes managed to break out of Banceuy Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, early on Tuesday an official said.
Their escape was discovered during a routine inspection at 5.30 a.m., warden Muqowinul said.
He said the four had fled their room from the window using wooden planks and several sarongs tied together with rope.
The inmates were identified as Kamir Santosa, 31, Erwin Bahrudin, 26, Yakob Santo Siadari, 27, and Gerry Susanto, 23.
They were serving sentences ranging from between eight months and nine years.
West Bandung Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Edi Mulyono said there were indications that the prisoners were aided by prison guards.
He made the statement after police officers questioned the prison guards in charge.
Muqowinul said it was the second breakout after another convicted drug dealer from Aceh province fled Banceuy prison in February 2003. --JP
Mob rampages steel plant
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: An angry mob attacked a steel plant in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Tuesday, which they blamed for polluting their neighborhood.
The attack on PT Bawaraja took place following an explosion at the factory earlier in the morning, which prompted at least 200 residents to throng the compound.
The rioters damaged the factory's windows, its office equipment and cars.
Baco, chief of the factory's security guards, said the attack was launched suddenly, when about 100 employees were working at the rear of the plant, so that nothing could be done to prevent it.
He admitted that local residents had protested several times against the plant's operation and for the pollution it produced.
"We guarantee that there is no pollution because we have waste processing facilities and high chimneys," Baco claimed.
Commenting on the explosion that triggered the attack, he said it came from the plant's iron processing residue dump, which might have resulted from a water spill, but added that it was harmless. --JP
Fishermen complain of drop in fish prices
INDRAMAYU, West Java: Thousands of fishermen in West Java's north coast regencies of Indramayu and Subang have complained about plummeting fish prices, at a time when their catch is bountiful.
Leaders of the local village cooperative (KUD) attributed the slump to the abundant catch, as some 30,000 people in Indramayu and 20,000 others in Subang were engaged in fishing.
Engkos, who chairs the KUD Mina Muara in Ciasem subdistrict, Subang, said on Tuesday the prices of different fish dropped by as much as 50 percent as the catch kept swelling.
He also blamed brokers who bought fish from fishermen at very low prices.
According to Engkos, the fishermen had no choice but to sell their catch cheaply because they had to repay debts they owed to the brokers.
He said the KUD was now striving to jack up the price by appealing to fishermen to sell their fish to cooperatives instead of brokers.
The protesting fishermen also urged the government to help increase the price of fish so they would be able to make a living.--JP